Eagan approves change in cable franchise

Eagan officials last week begrudgingly passed a resolution to transfer the local cable franchise from Comcast of Minnesota, Inc., to an independent subsidiary called GreatLand Connections, Inc.

The change comes amid a pending national merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable — the nation's first and second largest cable companies, respectively.

For Eagan residents, a switch in cable providers would change Comcast e-mail addresses and bill payment. But telephone numbers and cable equipment would remain the same. The City Council was able to build in some stipulations, like maintaining the same monthly rates for services, by approving the resolution.

Council members were largely opposed to the merger because, they said, it didn't seem to provide benefits for constituents. But they said they approved the resolution as it was the better of two options.

Taking no action would be seen as implicit approval of the deal but provide no compromises for the city. Negative action would likely lead to costly litigation, according to an attorney with the city.

"I don't appreciate the merger, I don't appreciate having to do this, but I'll be supporting this resolution," Mayor Mike Maguire said. "But what it does say to me is that this … is a market in which there needs to be more alternatives, more choices and more competition. It's communities like Eagan that are forced to accept these changes in the market even if we don't agree with them because we don't have choices."

In order to overcome federal regulations governing the merger, Comcast spun off almost 4 million subscribers so its national pay-TV market share would be under the Federal Communications Commission's 30 percent threshold.

If the FCC strikes down the merger, Twin Cities residents will retain Comcast as their provider — regardless of how the metro area city officials voted.

Brian Grogan, the attorney representing Eagan, said there's no way to track GreatLand's performance record or previous compliance because it's a brand-new company. He said that has been a major concern for city officials across the metro, especially since the Twin Cities has 550,000 subscribers — comprising about one fifth of GreatLand's possible customer base.

"There is no prior operating history that we can refer to to look at their capabilities and their qualifications," Grogan said during a presentation to Eagan City Council.

Charter holds operations in Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato and other outstate Minnesota cities. If the merger is approved, Charter will jump from overseeing 6 million customers to 10 million.

In a filing to the FCC, Eagan questioned whether a city should be forced to move from an established provider to one with no operating history.

Before the vote, council members expressed their displeasure with the situation.

"I'm not enamored at the idea of approving a transfer to a company that doesn't have any track record, but … approving it seems to be the best route to protect the interests of our constituents because it does at least add some enforceable conditions to the arrangement going forward," Council Member Paul Bakken said.